Chalong Police were notified of an alleged rape of a 24-year-old British woman at 9.06am yesterday morning. Officers were called to the Banana Coffee House on the road to Nai Harn Beach after a foreign woman ran into the shop crying and overwhelmed with emotion. The woman said that she had been assaulted and raped.

The woman was first taken to the Accident & Emergency Centre at the yet-to-open Chalong Hospital and then transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town (read more here).

According to the initial report by Chalong Police, the woman was staying at a hotel in Karon. She told police that she went to a bar in Karon the night before and was drinking with a Thai man, who she later asked to take her back to her hotel because she was drunk.

The woman did not remember anything else, except for that she woke up next morning at some place in Rawai, found scratches on her body, and ran to ask for help.

Having received the report, a joint task force of Phuket Provincial Police, Tourist Police and Immigration Police began gathering evidence, including checking CCTV and questioning witnesses. A DNA test was also conducted at Vachira Hospital.

On the same day, armed with a warrant, Phuket Police arrested the suspect, named at the press conference as Amnart Atjan, 40. The man was charged with rape and is now facing up to 4-20 years in jail and/or a fine of B80,000-400,000.

The suspect told the police that he met the woman at Kata Green Beach Bar. The couple spent some time drinking together before he took the foreign woman to his place and had sexual intercourse with her while she was asleep. In the morning the woman woke up and, shocked, ran away form the room, Amnart added.

The incident has been reported to the British Embassy.

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